Riverside Premises Liability Attorney

This area of injury law focuses on the liability of owners and occupiers of land for injuries arising on their property. Every Riverside owner and occupier of property has a duty to maintain that property in a reasonably safe condition. If a person is injured as a result of an unsafe condition on the property, liability could attach, and the owner or occupier could be required to pay damages.

The Duty

Premises liability law in Riverside California is controlled by both the law of negligence and statutes. Liability in these cases ordinarily turns on who was in control of the premises at the time of the injury. The person who has control is under a duty to maintain the property in a reasonably safe condition. If there is a known risk of harm on the premises, the owner or occupier must give adequate and sufficient warning of the condition so that others can avoid it. A lack of knowledge of a dangerous condition isn’t a defense. The owner or occupier’s duty is an affirmative duty, and they’re required to inspect their property or use other methods of determining of its condition.

Notice Of The Condition

Even if the owner or occupier had no notice of the dangerous condition, constructive notice might be proved by showing that the owner or occupier should have known of it. Evidence that the condition existed for an adequate period of time so as to be unreasonable is enough to imply constructive notice. To put constructive notice simply, if the banana peel on the floor of the supermarket was yellow when the person slipped on it and fell, constructive notice could be difficult to prove as it only fell very recently. If the banana peel was brown and deteriorated though, it might have been there for a sufficient period of time to be unreasonable. The store should have known about it.

Slips and Trips

Indeed, most people think of premises liability cases in the context of slip and fall or trip and fall cases, but across Southern California, they include but aren’t limited to animal attacks, swimming pool injuries or deaths, elevator and escalator accidents, amusement park accidents and negligent or inadequate security.

In Riverside, slip and falls usually occur as a result of a wet, oily or otherwise slippery surface. Most people fall out of control backwards. Spine and shoulder injuries are common. Less common but more dangerous are skull, brain and brain stem injuries that can result in lifelong disability or even death. Trip and falls ordinarily result from cracks, holes or uneven surfaces in places like sidewalks and parking lots. They might also occur due to insufficient lighting when somebody trips on stairs or over an object in an unlit hallway. With trip and falls, the person usually falls forward, injuring their skull, face, jaw, neck, shoulders, arms, hands and ribs.

Other Types of Premises Liability

Aside from drowning, common swimming pool injuries involve spinal and neck injuries from diving, electrocution from faulty wiring and of course slip and trips. Accidents arising from amusement or theme park accidents include whiplash, fractures, internal injuries, heart attacks, back and neck injuries and traumatic brain injuries. Common elevator accidents are caused by falls, drops, improper door movement or the elevator arriving above or below the specified floor. Escalator accidents can be caused by sudden stops, missing or degraded parts and side entrapment of footwear. California is one of the states that has a dog bite statute. Under the statute, negligence isn’t an issue. A dog owner is strictly liable for any bites caused by their dog regardless of whether the dog has ever shown dangerous tendencies. Negligent or inadequate security is relatively new in the law. It’s now recognized that Riverside property owners have a duty to keep others safe from criminal acts or attacks. If they fail to take adequate protective measures, and injury results, they can be held liable.

At the Riverside Law Offices of Brent A. Duque, we maintain a staff of a highly professional, knowledgeable, aggressive and successful premises liability attorneys who represent injured people through our offices that stretch across Southern California. Time limitations apply to any premises liability claim you might have, so for purposes of investigating a possible case and possibly preserving evidence, it’s best for you to contact us immediately after an accident.

Contact our Riverside County Personal Injury Attorney at 1-877-241-9554 to learn more about your legal options. A free consultation is just a phone call away. You can even use our online contact form, and we’ll reply to you quickly.